Spotlight On: Sue Galloway

This week's featured performer is Sue Galloway, a writer/performer/all-around-funny-lady at the UCB New York who can be seen performing regularly with improv Harold team The Law Firm, has appeared on various television shows, and is a freelance joke writer for Weekend Update and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Here's some of her work, showcasing her distinct and unique (two great traits for comedians to have) and definitely funny (also a great trait for a comedian to have) style:

Do You Work Here?

Dir. Will Hines, Wri. Sue Galloway, Sta. Sue Galloway and Charlie Sanders

Susan and Her Instruments

Dir./Wri./Sta. Sue Galloway

Sue Is Late For Lunch

Dir. Will Hines, Wri./Sta. Sue Galloway

Hooray Sue!

Got any suggestions for more great UCB performers to be featured? Let us know!

UCBTLA & UCBComedy.com announce BETA TEAMS!

(This is from the UCBTLA Theatre Page. UCB New York folks click here.)

As many of you already know, in February 2008 the UCB Theatre introduced the creation of its third stage - UCBCOMEDY.COM. We recently completed a massive reboot of the website and we're now thrilled to announce the creation of the first ever House Teams for UCB COMEDY: BETA TEAMS!

Much like Harold Teams create improvised shows and Maude Teams create sketch shows for the UCB Theatre stage, Beta Teams will create videos for ucbcomedy.com. Beta Teams may also be given occasional live shows at the UCB Theatre to showcase their best videos and/or premiere special projects.

-Beta Teams are teams of directors, cinematographers, and editors who will work together to create and produce video content for UCBCOMEDY.COM.

-Beta Teams will receive scripts submissions from Maude teams and writers within the UCB community. Under the guidance of an approved Beta Team coach, you will select which scripts to shoot and edit, and work with the writers to produce their scripts. Beta Team members are eligible to submit scripts to their own teams, but it is at the discretion of your coach as to which scripts will be selected for production.

-Beta Teams are meant to create opportunities for directors, cinematographers, and editors to:
-gain regular feedback on their material
-gain experience in many different production situations
-collaborate with some of the top writers and actors in the UCB community

-The longterm goals for Beta Team members will be to:
-build their packets and reels with solid material for future submissions to TV and movie jobs
-find other writers, directors/DPs, and editors that they may want to work with in the future on other projects

HOW WILL BETA TEAMS WORK?

-Beta Teams will consist of a mix of six (6) directors, cinematographers, and editors. The team members will work together in varying capacities to produce and upload videos to UCBCOMEDY.COM.

-Each team will be asked to upload roughly one new video per week to UCBCOMEDY.COM. Teams will be encouraged to create one-off videos as well as video series.

-Every team member will be encouraged to learn every job on the team. As team members become more and more proficient in each skill, the production workload will hopefully be more evenly shared, and the quality and quantity of the team's videos should increase.

-Beta Teams will have access to the some UCB Comedy camera, sound, and lighting equipment. Teams will sign these out and will be responsible for returning them on time. Of course, teams may also use their own equipment.

-Beta Teams will meet with an approved team director on a weekly basis to receive feedback on their edits, read through submitted scripts (or hear pitches from invited writers), and determine which scripts they would like to produce. The team director will basically work as a studio producer - deciding which scripts to put into production, giving notes on scripts and rough edits, making casting decisions, helping to set production schedules, directing videos when needed, etc.

-Beta Teams will cast their videos from a list of interested performers from advanced Improv classes as well as interested performers from the UCBT stage. Headshots and contact info for these performers will be made available to each team. And, of course, teams can use other means to cast their videos as needed for specific roles/types. Team members may also act in their own videos, but they should give priority to always casting the best possible person available for each role.

-Each team's videos will be featured on their own page on UCBCOMEDY.COM. Teams will also create a video bumper to intro all of their videos.

-In addition to the team's director, the Artistic Director will also give feedback on completed videos. The Artistic Director will choose some videos (at his/her discretion) to promote as "UCB COMEDY ORIGINALS." ORIGINALS are chosen/developed from many different sources. In addition to their being featured on UCBCOMEDY.COM, ORIGINALS are also featured and promoted on the UCB COMEDY YouTube channel and UCB COMEDY-branded pages on other websites. Occasionally, we are also able to obtain income from advertising and other sources for ORIGINALS. When that happens, we share that income with the video creators.

-As with all new initiatives at the theatre, this process will change as needed.

WANT TO BE ON A BETA TEAM?

-Beta Team members will be selected from eligible submissions. To be eligible you must have completed a UCB Improv 401 (or higher) class OR a UCB Sketch 101 (or higher), or you must be a current UCBT writer/performer.

-If you are selected to be on a Beta Team, you must:
-attend meetings, shoots, etc. as scheduled
-be a consistent and active contributor to the team.
-perform your share of production jobs, including P.A. jobs, etc. as needed
-be able and willing to make your team a priority

-If you are not willing/able to comply with the above requirements
- DO NOT SUBMIT TO BE ON A BETA TEAM.

-If you miss more than two (2) meetings in a row, miss meetings on a regular basis, or fail to produce the required quantity of work - you will be replaced on your team.

-Beta Team members will be expected to pay their team directors for their time in meetings. This should be handled in the same way (logistically and financially) that Harold and Maude Teams pay their coaches. Teams should get approval for their team director from the Artistic Director.

HOW DO YOU SUBMIT?

-The submission deadline is Wednesday, November 11 at 7pm.

-Submissions should be dropped off at the UCB Theatre Box Office (5919 Franklin Ave. 90028), Monday through Friday, 11am to close.

-IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT TO BE AN EDITOR, DIRECTOR, AND/OR DP: Your submission should consist of a directing/editing/DP reel, no longer than 5 minutes, submitted on a playable DVD (no computer files - it should be a DVD playable in any DVD player). Your reel should focus on your ability to make good comedy videos as much or more than your technical proficiency. We want videos to look good, but we're looking for people who can really make things funny. Feel free to include videos you've written - though you don't have to. Your submission should also include a cover page telling us what position(s) you're submitting for, why you should be included on a Beta Team, and any equipment you own that you could use to help produce videos (camera, editing software/computer, etc.).

-IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUBMIT FOR MORE THAN ONE POSITION: Your submission should consist of all of the above. Please submit everything together in the same submission. DO NOT SUBMIT SEPARATELY FOR EACH POSITION.

-IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE INCLUDED ON THE LIST OF POTENTIAL BETA TEAM ACTORS Do nothing. We will contact eligible actors later to begin building this database.

-Your Beta Team submission should be placed in one (1) manilla envelope with your name, phone, email address, and all teachers names listed on the outside. Write BETA TEAM clearly on the envelope.

Spotlight On: The Birthday Boys

I was originally gonna feature a girl today, and from the New York theatre no less, but Becky went and had a feminist mental breakdown in response to some Huffington Post earlier this week so I thought I'd respond by featuring not just a male, but a group of males with a male word in the title. For all you mathematicians, that's like chauvinism to the third power. But rest assured, the featured group is not sexist. I am.

Spotlight On: The Birthday Boys

The Birthday Boys, a sketch group of seven very funny guys, perform monthly at the UCB Theatre LA with shows chock-full of upbeat and energetic comedy, and are regularly asked to perform in sketchfests around the country. It's extremely rare to find someone that doesn't outright love them after attending one of their shows, and it's not hard to see why. Their humor is always clever, always likable, and always funny. Here's some of their work (click their name above for more):

Halloween Badasses

Great Film Performances

And, if you want to see a full live sketch show by a group with a great specific voice, click right on here. I didn't want to embed it here, because it's a 40 minute video and thats pretty big for a little blog.

So there you go. And don't worry, New York, I'll feature one o' youse guys next week. That is, if Becky doesn't get upset about some Huffington Post story on neglected New York comedians first.

Becky Vs. Bob McBobbob

All right, folks. First ever UCB Comedy Blog Cagematch. In one corner, we got your Becky Feldmans and we got your Cissy Fenwicks, with "BBQ Sauce," a short and sweet sketch that I freakin' love that they put together. In the other, we got YouTube user rockshya23, best known for saying "ucb just keeps pumping out shit that i dont think anyone seems to enjoy,"* and his latest video, "Bob McBobbob." Who ya got? Vote at the right!

BBQ Sauce


Bob McBobbob


We're childish tools. But come on, Becky and I needed something to do in the office today. Plus, I totally feel for rockshya23, because when I was ten I thought the name "Bob" was hilarious, too.

*Source: YouTube

Summer's the best! Here're some videos not really related to summer!

Hey everyone! I'm happy. Why am I happy? Because it's nice and beautiful and sunny outside, and that gives me an excuse to eat lots of frozen yogurt. And what better activity is there than than kicking back with a cup of Menchies and watching some videos? Here are a couple recent UCB Comedy Originals, the first being one I originally wrote with my Maude team Up, Up, Up! and filled with a bunch of performers from the LA theatre who I know from personal experience are awesome talented people, the second from the New York theatre with a bunch of performers I've never met personally but am sure are awesome talented people. Enjoy!

The Sports Show


The Cornish Game Hen Maneuver


Happy summer!

Hey! It's Been a While!

It's been a while. It's been a while, right? I feel like I haven't blogged in a really long time. Sure, there was a few simple posts here and there but it's been a while since I really, like, blogged.

How have you been? Are you still training for that marathon? What are you up to now, the 8-minute mile? Seven!? Wow. I can go that fast, too. Well... in my car. Haha jokes. Remember when we used to joke?

Things are good for me. I'm a little behind on laundry and Twitter but that's probably my only big issue happening in my life. I've become obsessed with puppy cams lately. I wish UCB Comedy had a puppy cam, but that would mean I would have to take care of puppies. To be honest, I do a lot of drastic things when I don't go grocery shopping and when a girl is hungry a GIRL IS HUNGRY. You know what I mean? Jokes again. Oh, uh, I was hinting that I would eat a puppy if I was- you know what? Nevermind. It doesn't matter.

Joe Wengert made Penny Pizza for UCBComedy.com. That was cool. Aubrey Plaza is in it. She's supercool.

Oh, and there's Love Coupon by Angela Trimbur. Remember when we used to do that? Love coupons? You still owe me a foot massage, but, blah, that's all in the past.

Anyway, I should go. Yeah, I should probably go. I should just g-

100 Posts!

This is UCB Comedy's 100th post. Yay!

It's totally crazy. A sequel to Drag Me to Hell is already in the works. Some of it has even been shot and guess what people? You can watch it right here!

Our Multi-Talented Ms. Feldman

Not many people know this, but there's more to Becky Feldman than just a blogger and sassy waitress archetype. That's right, Becky's an aspiring singer, and I've uncovered this music video of hers for all to see. Apparently in the studio they were going for the recorded-in-the-back-office-of-a-theatre sound.



Also, don't worry folks, I AM planning on getting a restraining order.

One Great Sketch for Monday

Happy President's Day! Which president is your favorite? Mine's Teddy Roosevelt. Becky likes Taft. All I'll say is, one of those fought bears and won, and one fought a bath tub and lost. You decide which is superior.

More important than our nation's history are celebrities, who'll all be on full display this Sunday at the Academy Awards, which are like the Oscars but for movies. To celebrate, here's a great sketch from Up, Up, Up!, one of the UCB maude teams from LA that I'm heavily biased toward because I'm on it. Enjoy!

Memorable Movie Quotes

One Great Sketch for Monday

For those of you who don't know, Maude Night is the best night of the year. And since it actually happens twelve times a year, a big metaphysical paradox is formed when the competing nights are all individually the best night of the year but must not be in order for the stipulation to be true for any of the other nights. In case you're wondering, yes, I woke up today trying to think of the dumbest most confusing thing I could say on this site.

But if you happen to be in the New York area tonight, or the Los Angeles area on Thursday night (or, if you're lucky, both), you really should come check out Maude Night, when the UCB's best in-house writing teams put up shows that will make you laugh, chortle, chuckle, and maybe* even rethink your worldview a bit. Check out ucbtheatre.com for details! And to hold you over, here's a video from one of the LA teams, Hot Mess!

Blacked Out


Enjoy! And lemme know if you're hittin' up LA's Maude Night-- we can totally hang out! Yay friendship!


*(but probably not)

One Great Sketch for Monday

So, I asked a friend what to write about today, and she took the cliched route and said I should write about how I hate being a waitress. Sorta difficult for me, because I'm not a waitress, but I think I can do it. How do I hate being a waitress? With every bone in my body. By storing a rage deep down my skin that's ready to just burst at any moment. I keep it to myself, as I walk down the aisle with my feminine gait, nodding politely every time some trucker slaps my behind or says "hey foxy mama, you need a foxy papa tonight?" Then I go home, draw a face with the words "foxy papa" on a piece of paper, staple it to my 260 lb. punching bag, and go to town. I eventually tire and collapse right there on the floor, a sweaty mass of blood, hatred, eggs and toast. That's how I hate being a waitress. Also, I'm a dude, so the female modifier's something of a tease. But WHY do I hate being a waitress? That's not the question. That's a story for another day...

Speaking of Italians, here's a great video written by Ryan Perez!

The Olive Garden


Huggles,
Matty

Becky's Successful Night by Becky

I'd like to talk to you about the greatest achievement of my life right now.

It happened about two weeks ago. I was at my friends Cissy and Julia's place for game night. They set up a big marker board and everyone participating was ready to get our Pictionary on.

A few beers later, it's my turn to draw. I look at my clue and, I swear to you, it was absolutely impossible.

My brain kicked into full gear and I knew I had to get through this. I don't know what happened, but I entered this trancelike state where my hands did all the drawing and the pointing when people were getting closer and closer to the clue. Dry-erase marker even got on my face - right under my nose - yes, just like that episode of Wings.

However, it was like God entered my body and drew my clue for me.

Finally, as I was entering back into reality, I heard someone on my team yell out the right answer. It was magical.

The answer was...

[First, watch this video.



It's called Relationship Pictionary, written by Angela Trimbur.]

SHIA LABEOUF!!!!!!!

One Great Sketch for Monday

For those of you who don't follow sports, know that pigs were spotted in the skies above Kansas yesterday while Satan sat and licked an ice cream cone. What that vivid imagery refers to is the Arizona Cardinals, who for the first time ever are going to the Super Bowl. It's also the first time ever the Arizona Cardinals will be respected by anybody, and the fourth time ever I won't be ashamed to tell somebody, "Yes, I'm from Arizona." Haha, I kid. I love movie theaters, golf courses, and old people.

From what I hear, football is beloved around the world. Brits love football, the Irish love football, and the Spanish love "futbol" (imagine an accent over the "o")*. I can only assume that they're all referring to the same thing. Otherwise, why would they call it that? Anyhoo, in honor of what the Europeans occasionally like to refer to as "American soccer," here's a great sketch written by Tim Saccardo:

Dumping Gatorade on Coach



*I only realized after typing this that I used the US and three western European countries to represent "the world." What can I say? I'm a Western Hemisphere sort of guy, and I don't like to throw my throwing stones too far from the front porch, if you get what I mean.

Have a Short Roommate?

If you're tall, I bet you do.

We all like to play pranks on our short roommates, so here's a list that is bound to get their little panties in a knot.

1.) Place their Benefiber on the top shelf of the pantry.

2.) Call them "short".

3.) Place the toilet paper dispenser on the ceiling.

4.) Call them "short" a second time.

5.) Prank call them and ask if their refrigerator is running. (I know you can play that prank on anyone, but for some reason it just happens to be funnier when played on a short roommate.)

6.) Have sex on the foot of their bed while their sleeping.

So, if you haven't figured out already, this entire post has been one of sarcasm. That's right. These are all pranks that have been pulled on ME.

And I'm bitter. Really, really bitter.

So, now you're going to have to reread this entire post in a morose and petulant manner.

And, after you do, Joel and Erin put up another episode of Roommating on UCBComedy if you want to check it out.

One Great Sketch for Monday

Hey everybody! I missed you all over the holidays. Stop by sometime to say hi and we can ketchup. "Ketchup" is tomatoese for "get filled in on everything you've missed while you've been apart." Well, it's Monday, and I don't think it's just Jim Davis' Heathcliff rip-off that can't stand that day. To celebrate, here's a little video about Monday from Chris Kula, a writer from the UCB who likes to write comedy that's funny rather than comedy that isn't. Enjoy!

I Hate Mondays


Also, check out below for my (arguably ill-formed) favorite movies of the year!

Kids Are My Favorite

Seriously. They're awesome, and what they make is usually a million times funnier and more brilliant than what I can come up with. To wit: these two videos, made by the children of Amey Goerlich's five-year-old film production class. That's a production class for five-year-olds, not a production class that's been going on for five years. The videos:


Penguin Scientist:



Lost Ice Cream Pitch Meeting:



See? Amazing.

Funny People Can Be Good People, Too

Below is a video made by the Los Angeles chapter of Mustaches for Kids, a charity that raises money for several children's charity organizations, mainly by growing mustaches. It's just a fun, great charity that we're happy to say includes members of the Upright Citizens Brigade community. Visit www.m4kla.com for details on the charity and to donate, but act soon-- donations end on Wednesday, Dec. 16th!

One Great Sketch for Monday

This week's Monday video is from Neil Campbell. In addition to being the artistic director of the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, Neil's a really, really funny guy. Enjoy!

ur docter wil c u nau KTHXBAI (also, One Great Sketch for Monday)

All right. So last night, I was indulging myself in a little Dolphin Olympics 2. If you don't know it, you should, because it's great. Fireworks, Mars, and dolphins. The whole shebang. Also good is Zilch, an online dice game (at least, the online version is online). Online dice games are fun because they take away everything about dice that make dice dice-- mainly, the physicality and the randomness (Did you know computers can't be random, but can only do their best to simulate randomness based on probabilities and whatnot? Fun fact #43!)-- so really you're almost not even playing a game at all. That's how I like to spend my free time, anyway.

But I digress. What's more important is that on the website where I was playing these marvelous games, there's a little open chat room that's always running to the side. I never partook in the banter that took place there, but I did check on it every now and then to notice a fellow whose name was something along the lines of "kidninja472." Kidninja's side of the chat went a like something like this (copy n' pasted):

"just out of school"

"wat u on"

"no u kk i c"

"im n med school"

Yup, med school. Kidninja's in med school. People, future doctors are going online and chatting in chat rooms, and even they have felt the need to throw grammar to the wind in that violent manner unachievable through mere spoken word. Basically, kidninja is either a horrible future doctor, or somebody who's horrible at pretending they're a doctor. I'll let you take your pick, but neither choice speaks too well of anything. Then again, I'm not in med school, so I really have no room to criticize.

There's probably a pretty good argument for or against universal healthcare in there, too, for people who like to look for something in nothing. Or as I like to call them, Cubs fans! Badabing. I promise you nobody who read that thought it was funny. And in what people in the biz refer to as a "perfect segue," we go from this discussion of doctors to Hospital Bits, which I find to be really funny. It's got Drew DiFonzo Marks, Marisa Pinson, and Jon Glover, along with the direction and voicework of Andie Bolt, and it's pretty great. If you don't agree, lemme know with a comment why don't ya. There's ten of 'em, so when you're done with the one below you can head to UCBcomedy.com and check out all the rest of the magic.

One Great Sketch for Monday

Here's a great sketch written by (and starring) Ryan Perez. Enjoy!